


The Heat In My Stars

by BridgetteIrish



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fever Dreams, Sex Rituals, bad trope, heat - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-09 06:51:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7791202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetteIrish/pseuds/BridgetteIrish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kara begins having troublesome dreams that she can't explain and upon further investigation finds she is a part of an old Kryptonian astronomical phenomenon that she can't escape but is not sure she can endure.</p>
<p>As she is pulled further and further into the pull of her old stars, she is faced with the choice of embracing the burden laid upon her or resisting it and risking the life she has built and so dearly loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The bad trope I drew for the challenge was NOT THIS, but I failed miserably at writing that.
> 
> Instead I pulled an element from that trope and poured myself whole-heartedly into it.
> 
> This fic is complete, but it's long, so I'll be posting it in 4 installments.
> 
> Shout out to the sin-bin for your constant encouragement and inspiration. I mean damn, when we lay down a challenge, we don't mess around!
> 
> Enjoy!

For the third night in a row, Kara Danvers sat bolt upright in her bed, in the throes of a powerful orgasm.  Her fingers tore at the soaked sheets, shredding themselves as she caught her breath and her center clenched.  Sweat dripped from her nose and tears leaked from her eyes.

The vision of Cat Grant’s soft halo of blonde curls covering her lovely face faded from Kara’s mind, but the memory of the way she drove her fingers into Kara over and over and over, saying, “That’s my pretty Star.  Shine for me, Kara,” in a husky, lust-soaked voice, was branded on her soul.

She scrambled from her bed.  It was far too early to be up for work, but she ran a cold shower, feeling the strain in her shoulders and legs as she leaned against the shower walls, willing the arousal, the heat, the lust deep down, until all she felt was a dull ache where the absence of Cat’s physical form was felt in her fingertips.

Routine was the key.  A shower, a familiar dress, a donut and the walk to Noonan’s restored her equilibrium.  She bought a latte for Cat, almost without thinking.

They exited their respective elevators simultaneously and a slight burst of superspeed was all that prevented their collision.

“I had no idea you were so agile, Kara,” Cat said snottily.  “Someone ate her Wheaties this morning.”

“Good Morning, Miss Grant.  Latte?”  She held the drink out and felt her body flush again.

Cat eyed her warily.  “What prompted this?”  She took the beverage and their fingertips brushed.

Heat, burning and fast, swept through Kara and flashes of the dreams she had been so desperate to forget that morning came roaring back.  Kara swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut.

“I-I was there already.  It was really no trouble.  If you’ll excuse me.  I have a busy morning.”

She slammed the door to her office shut, pressing her back against it and drawing her fingertips down her neck.

“Don’t touch yourself at work, Kara,” she ordered herself desperately.  She took two cleansing breaths and pushed off the door, determined to begin her day.

 

++++++++++++

 

Kara was never hot.  She wore cardigan sweaters in eighty-five degree weather and had never turned on the air-conditioner in her apartment.  She spent hours in the Southern California sun in nothing but a string bikini and had never so much as broken a sweat.  But today, she had on a sleeveless dress made of the lightest cotton she could find, she had kicked off her tiny ballet slippers to give her feet some air and she had piled all of her hair atop her head with two strategically placed pencils in an effort to keep it off her neck and she could still feel the trickle of perspiration as it slid between her shoulder blades.

The temperature on the fortieth floor thermostat read 70 degrees fahrenheit.  She’d checked it.  Twice.  It was pleasantly cool in the office and the breeze blowing across the break room balcony where she’d just eaten her lunch was positively utopian, but Kara sat at her desk fanning herself with a thin manila folder, cursing the flush in her cheeks and the racing of her heart.

Winn knocked on the door before stepping in and cocking his head to the side.  “You okay Kara?” he asked, clearly concerned.  “You look a little… feverish.”

She giggled nervously.  “Yeah, fine.  It’s just a little warm in here, that’s all.  What’s up?”

Winn looked confused.  “We have a meeting.  Digital Roundtable? One o’clock every Tuesday for the past, oh, I don’t know, forever?”  He glanced at his watch as Kara scrambled for her Outlook calendar.  “It started ten minutes ago.  Cat’s pissed that you’re late.  You were supposed to have the new client list for her.”

“Shit,” Kara exclaimed.  “Shit. Shit. Shit.  I’m coming, Winn.  I totally spaced it off.  I have what she needs, I just need to…” She stood from her desk, shuffling through the myriad files and papers covering it.

“Kara,” Winn stepped forward and took the folder she’d just been using to fan herself.  Kara’s neat, block lettering on the front read clearly.  ‘Ad Client List 7/13/2016’

Kara flushed again and felt her palms grow damp and a heaviness fill her head.  “Right.  Thanks, Winn.  Let’s go.”

She barely registered the walk to Cat’s office, where the digital sales and design teams, plus Winn and Jack, the coding consultants, gathered to update Cat on the team’s status each week.

“Well, look who decided to emerge from her fortress.”  Cat Grant sat on the front of her desk, legs crossed, tapping the end of a pen against her palm, holding court and exuding power.  “Well, don’t just stand there, Kara.  You have some information for me?”

Kara had frozen in her tracks upon laying eyes on Cat Grant for the second time that day. The heat that had consumed her since she had awoken that morning, tangled in damp sheets from a fevered dream of the woman before her, flared again.  She felt the low burning ember that sat low in her belly grow and flames licked through her chest, down her arms and legs, igniting fingers and toes.  Sweat, once again, broke across her brow.  Kara’s vision clouded and narrowed until all she could see was Cat, haloed in gold, looking for all the world like a queen sitting on her throne.

The words came unbidden as the fire could no longer be contained within Kara’s breast.  She spoke them without knowing they were coming.

 

_ “Raogrhys ahvrig raogrhys _

_ Ehl kolir Ehl _

_ :zhao iahzrhim” _

 

“Kara?” Winn approached her from behind, reaching for her elbow and coming around to her front so he could see her face.  He almost didn’t catch her as her eyes rolled back in her head and her knees gave out.

A surprised gasp fluttered through the room and Cat was off her desk in an instant, kneeling by Kara’s side and catching Winn’s eyes in a knowing gaze.  “Witt, call an ambulance.”

Winn gritted his teeth and whispered, “Miss Grant, I don’t think that’s --” 

“An  _ ambulance _ , Winn.”  The use of his real name got his attention and he caught her meaning.  He scrambled to his feet, fumbling with his phone in his haste to dial Alex.  “The rest of you, meeting adjourned.  Get back to work.  You’re all adults.  I expect discretion.  If I hear one rumor about Kara in any corner of this building, you’ll all be fired, regardless of who spread it.”  She registered the nods in the room.  “Get out.”  She returned her attention to the unconscious girl at her knees.  Gentle fingers pulled sweaty tendrils of loose hair from Kara’s forehead.  

Winn returned moments later.  He scanned the empty office before he spoke.  “Her sister is on her way.  They’ll be disguised.  Nobody will know.”

Cat fought down the panic that usually only appeared when she skipped her morning Lexapro.  Kara was still unconscious and was beginning to feel clammy and cold, in spite of the sweat that continued to break out over her pallid skin. She swallowed the lump in her throat.  “Do you know what she said?”  She looked at Winn in desperation.

Winn shook his head, eyes locked on Kara, his own worry evident in his frown.  “She’s… taught me a little, but the only words I caught for sure were ‘power’ and ‘love’.”

When the elevator doors slid open and Alex Danvers and Susan Vasquez stepped out, dressed in full paramedic regalia and carrying a stretcher, Winn and Cat breathed simultaneous sighs of relief.

 

+++++++++++

 

Not even Alex had any answers for her.  Kara awoke in the one of the DEO vehicles cleverly disguised as an ambulance, disoriented and embarrassed.  “Oh, God.”  She looked at Alex.  “I collapsed in Cat’s office.  I’m so fired.”  

Vasquez chuckled.  “Not if the way she was stroking your hair is any indication.”

Alex shot her a look and Susan cleared her throat, while she expertly used a Kryptonite needle to place an IV in Kara’s arm in an attempt to replace her fluids.

Alex leaned over Kara.  “You’re massively dehydrated.  It appears you’ve been sweating… a lot.  We’ve got to run some tests.  Do you have any idea what happened?”

Kara blushed and glanced at Vasquez.  Susan took the hint.  “I’ll go… check on the driver,” she excused lamely to give them some privacy.

Kara sat up and fiddled with her fingers.  “I’ve been having dreams.  Waking up in night sweats.  I’m… hot… all the time.”  She met Alex’s eyes.  “And… turned on?”

Alex’s eyebrow shot up before she could stop it.  She schooled her features and squeezed Kara’s hand.  “We’ll figure it out, sis.”

After two hours of blood tests, brain scans and a full psychological workup, Kara endured an uncomfortable, very wooden conversation with her curious bioengineer sister that gave her no answers.

“Your hormone levels are elevated and there is nearly unchartable levels of activity in your amygdala, but we don’t have any context for it.”  Alex put her hands on Kara’s shoulders.  “You’re not sick, Kara, but there are some abnormalities.”  She sighed.  “I think it might be a good time for a very candid talk with your mother.” 

Kara nodded.  She procrastinated for an hour in a cool bath in the DEO barracks to bring down her fever.  Now, Kara Zor-El stood before what was left of her mother, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.  She felt vulnerable and weak and a slow burn still filled her heart.  Her thoughts were full of Cat and the Kryptonian sun and the star she was named for.

“How long have the dreams been coming to you, my daughter?”

“About three days.”

“And are they all of the same lover?”

Kara flinched.  She had imagined conversations with her mother about her coming-of-age.  She had wished for more than the awkward, sterile, emotionless talk she received from Eliza the night before her first date at sixteen.  She had longed for her mother’s warm embrace and gentle talks of the gentle boys in other high houses who could become her  _ Sh _ _ eh _ _ d Ehrosh _ , her  _ ‘life’s journey’ _ and quiet, reverent stories of her  _ Ehl :Dehdh _ , her ‘ _ star time _ ’.  She knew almost nothing about it, aside from the childish rumors and giggling whispers amongst the girls in her school of strange dreams and things done in bedrooms that are not to be spoken of.

“They are.”  She swelled with pride.  “She’s the most powerful person in my city.”

Alura smiled.  The shadow of the woman she used to be remained, even if the soul did not arrive on earth with Kara.  “Then you have chosen well.  Have you spoken the words?”

Kara looked down.  “I-I spoke some words.  I know their meaning, but not the significance.”  Kara thought, bringing back the words she spoke instinctively in Cat’s office.

 

_ “Power seeks Power _

_ Star touches Star _

_ Love Begins” _

 

Kara looked up at the opaque vision of Alura.

“Once every ten years, the wandering star, Kara, comes near enough to Rao that the heat from one feeds the other.  This heat settles in the hearts of the worthy, where Rao abides.   At this time, the chosen of the high houses of Krypton experience an awakening… the  _ Star Time _ .”

“ _ Ehl :Dehdh _ ,” Kara whispered.  “And this is why I feel so… hot?”  She flushed in embarrassment.  She knew deep down this was not her mother, but it looked and sounded like her and a tiny piece of Kara was glad she was truly just a machine.

True to her nature, Alura showed no emotion and remained clinical and cold.  “Your power will seek out it’s match, it’s true equal.  When the match is found, and the words spoken, there is nobody else in the cosmos for you.  Your body will seek her out, but be aware when in close proximity, Kara.  It will be difficult to control your impulses.  You will want her.  You will need her.  She will cause chaos and rapture within your physical and emotional being.”

“Don’t we have a choice?”  Kara was beginning to get dizzy again.  She was warm and panicked.  “This woman… she isn’t… we don’t have a relationship, Mother.  I work for her.  It would be inappropriate.  I don’t want ‘chaos’ and ‘rapture’; I only want to be normal!”

“You do not wish to fornicate with this woman?”

“Fornicate!?  Rao’s Light, Mother!  No!  If I wanted to do anything… like that, with Miss Grant it would be… making love, or… sex, I suppose.”

“Yes, my apologies, Daughter.  I forget that humans are rather repressed in the discussion of the procreative act.”

“This is sounding more romantic with every word, Mom.”

The A.I. seemed to soften a bit.  “The romance comes, Kara.  The initial burn of _Star Time_ gives way, in true power matches, to a deep emotional bond.  Zor-El was my own _Ehl_ _Zrh_ _y_ _min._  And while you were born of the matrix, we raised you in the love of our bond.”

Kara looked down, thoughts of Cat filling her head and mingling with the memories of the spires of Argo City and the red sky of Krypton and the distant glow of the star Kara, far off but watchful.  Fire burst in her belly again and she put her head in her hands.  “What if she doesn’t want me?”

“Kara Zor-El.”  The tone was even and measured as artificial intelligence would be, but Kara could almost hear the determination and passion in the voice of her mother, always so keen to defend her race and planet.  “You are the last daughter of Krypton, a scion of the great house of El.  There is nobody, Human or Kryptonian who is unworthy of you.”

“Why me?  Why not Kal-El?”

The answer came easily to Alura.  “You are more powerful than your cousin could ever hope to be.  The light of Rao burns more brightly in you than in any child born on Krypton in a millennia.”  The hologram met her eyes.  “There is a reason we named you for The Wanderer, Kara.”

Kara looked up and wiped her eyes.  “I do not want this, Mother.”  The formal way of speaking with respect to her elders on Krypton returned instinctively.  

Alura flickered for a moment but returned with a bit of raised volume.  “You may wait out the  _ Ehl :Dehdh  _ away from your destined, but I warn you, Kara.  It will not be pleasant.”

Kara nodded, but a final warning was forthcoming.

“The words have already been spoken so… if you choose to remove yourself from her light… one look, one moment in her presence, one hint of her scent, could be enough to make you lose control.  Go to her now, or stay away until your  _ Star Time _ has passed.”

“And how long is that?” Kara was nearly afraid to ask.

“Approximately four earth weeks.”

“A month?  I’ll have to quit my job!”

“The choice is yours, daughter.”

“Good night, mother.”  Kara pressed the button on the wall, blinking her mother from her sight and slid down the metal wall of the A.I. room.

A month away from Cat, from CatCo, from her job.  She’d have to take family leave, or medical leave, or alien sex leave.  She didn’t want to think about it now.  Right now she wanted a gallon of ice cream and a blanket of ice packs.

 

++++++++++

 

Alex howled with laughter.  “You’re in heat!”

“Shut up, I am not.”  Kara threw a pillow at her sister and stole her ice cream when she was dealing with the aftermath.

“You're hot for Cat Grant… literally!”  Alex continued to giggle as Kara’s scowl deepened.

“You're so not funny.”

“I was always jealous that you didn’t get your period, now I know why.  This is way worse.”  Alex chuckled into her beer as Kara got up to throw the empty ice cream cartons away and take a swig of cold water from the pitcher in the fridge.

“Kryptonians had no need for reproductive cycles.  This is more tied to our… spirituality.”

Alex doubled over again.  “Religious sex rituals!  C’mon, Kara, you must see the humor here!”

Kara, grumpy from a long day and the relentless heat she couldn’t escape, did not see any humor in her situation.  “Actually, I don’t.  I take my religion quite seriously, even if I am the only being in the entire universe that still practices it… or used to,” she amended sadly.  Kara hadn’t done her morning chants in years, though she still felt the stirrings of Rao in her heart, now more than ever.  “Rao’s Light and his connection to Kara the Wanderer was taught from birth, Alex.  It isn’t just a ritual to me.  Rao was tied to our science, to our daily activities, to our education and our art.  We didn’t separate our gods from ourselves.  Rao lives in me, and if I have been chosen to be his... liaison to The Wandering Star, well, I’ll just have to accept that.”

Alex had the decency to look ashamed.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to disparage your faith.  You know I have always respected your daily rituals and your spirituality very much.  It wasn’t fair of me to laugh at you.”

Kara sat back on the sofa and drew Alex into a hug.  “I know.  In truth, I’m so far removed from it now, I’m not sure I could hear Rao even if I tried now.”  She gave Alex a small smile.  “Normally, I’d probably laugh along with you, but I’m tired and hot and scared.  And while we’re on the subject of ridiculous religious rituals, shall we talk about the flying fat man and the giant bunny who creep into kids houses in the middle of the night to leave ‘gifts’ for them?  Because to anyone who didn’t grow up with it, that sounds utterly insane.”

“Point taken, sis.  C’mon, let’s finish the show.”  They turned back to Scandal and fell into silence.

 

++++++++++++

 

Before the sun was up in National City, Kara Danvers, having awoken from another erotic dream of Cat Grant, flew from her apartment, landing noiselessly on the fortieth floor balcony outside Cat’s office.  The door into the office didn’t even have a lock on it, so Supergirl freely entered the dark office to leave the plain, white envelope in a prominent place on Cat’s desk, where she would be certain to see it first thing in the morning.  A tear slipped down her cheek at the thought that this moment was likely the last she would spend in this office.  But her decision was final, made in the passionate moments following Kara’s dream of having her head buried between pale, slender thighs while kneeling in front of this very desk.  She couldn’t look Cat in the eyes after that, and she couldn’t risk losing control of herself if a glimpse of the woman sent her reeling.

Before she set the envelope down, a rustle from across the room caught her attention.  Cat Grant sat up on her sofa, brushing hair from her face and giving her eyes a moment to focus.  Kara was already gone, lost to the heat flooding her body and the chaos erupting in her mind.

She swallowed heavily and the envelope crumpled in her fist.  “What are you doing here?”  She started towards the balcony door, ready to make her escape.  It would take a nanosecond, a burst of superspeed and she’d be at a safe 30,000 feet, dodging airplanes instead of her arousal.  But something stopped her.  First, her desire and Cat’s intoxicating scent as she sauntered across the room, still shaking off the remnants of sleep; then it was Cat’s hand on her wrist.  Dammit, she should have left while she still could still walk away from this woman who ignited such fire in her.

The touch sent riots of sensation through her body.

“I believe it’s me that should be asking you that question, Supergirl.”  Cat squeezed her wrist and the envelope fluttered to the foor.  At the familiar flush of heat, Kara looked up through the ceiling to the sky above, trying to get herself under control.  Why hadn’t she left yet?

“Cat, I have to go.”

“Wait.”

As though compelled by an unseen force, she halted in her tracks, stopping but not turning.

“Are you alright?”

Kara bowed her head.  “I’m fine, Miss Grant.”

“The last time I saw you, you were unconscious on the floor less than ten feet from here.  So, I’m going to ask you again.”  She stepped forward and wrapped her slender hand around Kara’s wrist again.  “Are you alright?”

Cat’s new admission that she was aware of Kara’s true identity seemed so inconsequential now that memories of the things they’d done to each other in her dreams flashed in her mind.  She couldn’t bring herself to tell yet another lie.  Not trusting her voice, she only nodded.

Cat bent to retrieve the forgotten letter from the carpet.  She tore open the envelope, devouring the words within.

Kara escaped to the balcony and leaned against the balustrade, waiting for Cat to finish reading.  She saw no point in flying away now.  She’d already strayed from her mother’s advice.  Cat was in her blood now.  Running would only make it worse.  She only hoped she was strong enough to keep her at arm’s length.

She felt Cat’s presence before she spoke.  The pat of her bare feet on the concrete, the swish of her skirt against toned thighs, the delicate scent of her familiar perfume, spicy and earthen, the fierce energy that followed her everywhere, the sharp breath that colored her words when they finally came.

“You’re quitting?”

“I have to.”  Kara was breathing heavily, blocking out Cat’s heartbeat and the sound of her breath quickening in her chest as the news of her resignation sunk in.

“Like hell.”  Cat stepped closer.  “I’ve fired you a dozen times and you’ve always stubbornly kept showing up as though you didn’t hear me.  And now, you have one minor medical incident and you just leave me without an explanation?  I don’t buy it, Kara.  There has to be a reason and - _Goddammit_ _LOOK AT ME!_ ”

A sob escaped Kara unbidden.  “I can’t,” she whispered, her resolve crumbling.  She couldn’t turn, and couldn’t fly away.  She was frozen, by her arousal and her fear and her desire for the woman who was suddenly touching her again.  

“Please, Kara.”  Cat’s hand encircled her wrist again.  “I was scared today.  More scared than I realized I had any right to be.”  A hand on the small of her back and the soft weight of Cat’s forehead on her shoulder blade caused the final collapse.  “I need you to look at me so I can try to figure out if I was scared of losing an employee, or…”  Kara felt the wall she had been trying so valiantly to build crack and crumble just as the concrete under her fingers crumbled to dust in her hands.

Kara spun around and in the same motion her hands cradled Cat’s perfect jawline in her palms, fingers sliding against the nape of her neck and eyes afire.  “Turn around and walk away now, Cat or I’m going to kiss you with the possibility that I will be unable to stop.”

Cat’s breath caught and her tongue brushed her bottom lip out of habit.

“You have a choice,” Kara breathed.  “I don’t.”

Cat squeezed one of the hands on her cheek, turning her head and brushing warm lips against Kara’s palm.  “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Kara’s jaw dropped open and her lungs emptied as Cat’s lips traveled further up to her wrist and her teeth ghosted against her throbbing pulse.  A whimper escaped and her other hand squeezed the hair at the back of Cat’s neck, drawing a hiss from the lips on her arm.

It woke Kara from the spell Cat had been drawing her under.  “Sorry.”  She stepped back, bumping into the balcony wall.  “Oh, God, Cat, I’m so sorry, I-”

“Don’t you dare fly away, Supergirl.  Not until you tell me what the hell is going on with you.”

Kara shook her head desperately.  “No.”  She gripped the wall behind her, thankful for the anger that had begun to arise.  It pushed away some of the arousal and gave Kara the strength to distance herself.  “I’m handling it.”

“You’re a shitty liar.”  Cat trapped her against the wall, stood on her tiptoes and let her breath brush the shell of Kara’s ear.  “Whatever it is has to do with me, and is affecting me, so you will talk to me.”  Her nose brushed against Kara’s neck.  “Maybe after I get you out of my system a little.”  With a firm hand she guided Kara’s lips to her own.

Soft, firm lips met hesitant, shaking ones.  As Cat dipped the tip of her tongue into Kara’s mouth, light exploded behind Kara’s closed eyes.  She didn’t dare move her hands, for fear that her strength would get the best of her and Cat would be hurt in the intensity of her desire.  But she kissed back, with days of frustrating heat and the tension of keeping it all in fueling each new moment.  The sensation of Cat’s tongue meeting her own; the give of her bottom lip as it brushed her top one; the sweetness of her breath as it danced in the tiny spaces between them.

The hand that had remained steadfastly at Kara’s back snuck around to the front.  Manicured nails scratched at the textured fabric covering strong abs and slid up, up, up until her thumb brushed the underside of a soft breast.  Kara cried out, broke the kiss and dropped her head forward, letting her hair cover her face as pleasure rocked through her body.  The balustrade crumbled under her fingers once again and she shuddered visibly.  It happened so fast, and came as such a surprise that Kara’s embarrassment didn’t present itself until she was catching her breath and a trickle of sweat was making it’s way down her temple.

Cat gaped at the top of her head and placed her hand on the back of her neck.  “Did you just…?”

Kara nodded and hid her face deeper in the curtain of her hair, fighting with getting air into her lungs.

“Jesus, Kara.”  Cat tucked as much hair behind Kara’s ear as she could manage and nosed at her forehead.

Kara gasped and looked up, fighting back the tears in her eyes, mortification setting in fully.  “We need to talk.”  She swallowed heavily.  “But first, I need to fly away and figure out how to cope with the fact that I just… in your office… without even…  God, what you must think of me.”

Cat lifted her head with a finger under her chin.  “I think you are exquisite.”  She followed Kara’s eyes when she tried to look away.  “And scared and troubled and possibly ill.”  She cupped Kara’s cheek.  “So, go.”  She smiled.  “Clear your head or save a kitten or sit on a rocky outcrop and contemplate the meaning of life or whatever it is broody superheroes do in their quiet moments.  Then come back to me, and we’ll talk.”  Cat finally found the wherewithal to step out of Kara’s personal space.  “I’m going to go home, have a very large drink and attempt to forget how beautiful you look coming apart in my arms.”  She turned and walked back inside, slipping into her kitten heels and gathering her things.  Before walking from her office, she turned back to the superhero still haunting her balcony.  “I’ll leave a light on for you.”

Kara gathered her strength, gave a close-lipped smile and shot into the sky.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara accepts her role... and so does Cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all you kind words and kudos.  
> I'm so glad you are enjoying it.
> 
> It gets very NSFW in this chapter

Kara sobbed quietly as she made slow, lazy circles around Alcatraz Island, wishing for all the world she could lock herself in one of those old, iron cells and forget that Cat Grant and this accursed burden had never become a part of her life.  She had been so determined to keep Cat away from this, to put this old lingering hurt from Krypton aside.  It seemed every time she came close to having the life on earth she wanted, something happened to make her relive Krypton’s loss all over again.  Now, she was the sole living conduit of the ancient deities of her world and while she knew she was supposed to proudly take up this mantle and follow the stars to her destiny, it had only caused her pain and humiliation.

Her surprise climax on Cat’s balcony had appeased the insatiable desire she had been living with for the past few days, but that heat had been replaced by another; burning embarrassment at losing control in Cat’s arms and anger at her failure to remove Cat from the equation.

She settled herself on a craggy rock overlooking the docks that used to bring prisoners to the island.  She looked up through the offshore cloud cover, through the thin earthen atmosphere, through stars and past suns and found Rao, glowing red millions of miles away.  Casting a gentle, white glow on Rao’s red halo was Kara the Wanderer.  Kara was usually nearly 500 light years from Rao, but now, the two shared space, performing a familiar, romantic dance.  As Kara watched them burn, she could feel the light of Rao and the heat of Kara settle once again in her breast.  Resisting it had been futile, she knew that now, but she wanted Cat to have a choice.  It seemed even that small dignity had been taken away.  Her  _ Star Time _ had pulled Cat into her orbit.

Kara gave a mirthless little laugh when she realized she was doing exactly what Cat predicted; brooding over her superhero pain on a dilapidated island prison.  The cliche was nearly as crushing as her humiliation.  She was drawn from her heavy thoughts by sirens on the mainland.  She shot into the sky and followed the fire trucks to a restaurant fire in North National City.

She ducked through flames to rescue a sobbing chef in the kitchen who was spraying flames with a rapidly emptying fire extinguisher.

“I worked my whole life for that restaurant!”  The woman screamed as Kara flew her to safety.  “Now it’s gone!”  She landed futile fists on Kara’s shoulders.

Kara set her on the sidewalk.  “You’ll build it back up.  Better than before.  I promise.”  She offered the chef a reassuring smile before launching herself into the air to douse the flames.

It was therapeutic, adding her freeze breath to the fire hoses and watching the fire quickly turn to smoke and steam and smoulder while the voices of her city celebrated its heroes as she flew away.

Her lips felt pleasantly cool and the wind in her hair as she flew calmed her mind and eased the adrenaline rush into the quiet storm she was accustomed to.

By the time she found herself floating outside Cat Grant’s bedroom window she felt, for the first time in days, that she may be able to be in the same room as her boss at nothing more than a low simmer.

Whether the woman felt her presence somehow, or heard her cape flapping in the considerable coastal breeze, she could never be sure, but before Kara knew it, Cat was standing on the balcony outside her bedroom in soft grey cotton pants and a ribbed tanktop, tying a light jersey robe around her waist.  She was haloed from behind by the light from the room, filtered through gauzy white curtains and giving her cornsilk curls an ephemeral glow.

“You are… really beautiful.”  Kara blurted out, before succumbing to the inevitable blush that followed.

Cat cleared her throat and fought her own blush.  “You didn’t come here to pay me compliments from the sky outside my bedroom, Supergirl.  You had something to discuss with me?”

“May I come in?”  The burn had started again, but Kara remained calm, determined to keep her head long enough to release Cat from any obligation to her and get back to her apartment where she could spend the night quietly smouldering in peace before leaving to spend the rest of her  _ Star Time _ at the Fortress of Solitude in deep meditation.

Cat turned and strode back into the penthouse, leaving the door open behind her.  Kara followed to find Cat curling up in the corner of an overstuffed sofa on the opposite wall from the California King that dominated the room, sipping from a rocks glass.  “Have a seat.”  She gestured to the other end of the couch.  “Drink?”

Kara shook her head and opted instead for the end of the bed.  It was full of Cat’s scent and the images in Kara’s head nearly derailed her calm, but it was safer than having Cat less than an arm’s length away.

Cat eyed her warily.  “I don’t bite, Kara, at least not until you ask me to.”  Her eyes twinkled and Kara swallowed a whimper.

“It’s not that, Miss Grant.  It’s… safer over here, until I say what I have to say.”  Cat began to rise and cross to her, a hunger in her eyes Kara recognized from earlier in the evening.  “No!  Cat, please.”  She scraped her fingernails on her thighs.  “Please just stay over there, at least for now.  I- I need the distance.”  She squeezed her eyes shut and licked her lips, shoving her desire down deep inside.

Cat sipped again and nodded.  “Out with it then.”

So, Kara talked.  She closed her eyes and began at the beginning.  “I am the last surviving woman from the planet Krypton.”  She told Cat everything.  The  _ Ehl :Dehdh  _ and what it meant for her. She spoke of her people and their traditions, of her gods and their movements through the heavens.  She spoke of her mother and father, of her name and the star they named her for; how she had been chosen.  She lamented through her closed eyes how she was now a prisoner of her own body; how the natural movement of a star had not only trapped her, but how Cat had become collateral damage.  She told Cat how for the past four days, her mind had been betraying her with thoughts of the woman that she had no right to have.  

When she ran out of words and took a deep breath, she kept her eyes tightly shut, unwilling to see Cat’s reaction.

“I’m going to leave tonight and I’ll come back when it’s over.”  

When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Cat kneeling in front of her at the foot of the bed; not touching, just waiting.

“Don’t go,” she asked simply.

“When I said I didn’t have a choice.  I meant it literally.  This is happening  _ to _ me.  I didn’t ask for it, and neither did you, and I swear to Rao, Cat, if you don’t go sit back on the couch  _ right now _ , I may not be able to fly back out that window.”  She couldn’t resist placing a warm hand on Cat’s pale cheek.

“Then don’t,” Cat asked again, giving Kara’s palm a soft kiss.

“I have to.  I want you, Cat, more than anything, but I can’t ask you to-”

“You say you don’t have a choice, but that I do.”  Kara nodded.  “What if I choose this?”

Kara’s hand dropped and squeezed into a fist.  Cat’s voice was beginning to give her that familiar dizzy feeling.  “We can’t just…”

“Oh, yes we can,” and Cat surged from her knees and onto the bed, straddling Kara’s hips.  She took Kara’s face in her hands.  “For once in your perfect life, Kara, stop being so fucking noble and take. what. you. want.”

The fire in Cat’s eyes lit a fuse inside Kara.  The explosion was inevitable, but she would follow that fuse to hell and back if it ended in Cat Grant’s eyes.  She took what she wanted.  She grabbed Cat’s hips as tightly as she dared and pressed them flush against her own.  Their lips met and Cat’s hands buried themselves in Kara’s unruly golden waves.  This kiss was nothing like the one they’d shared earlier in the night.  There was nothing hesitant or sweet in the way Kara dove into Cat’s mouth over and over, sucking at her lips in turn and the meeting of their tongues sending sparks through every nerve ending in Kara’s body.  

It was Cat’s turn to cry out as Kara’s mouth found her neck and her hand found the small of her back, gently encouraging the rocking motion Cat had begun against her hips.  The hand slid down and gave Cat’s perfect ass a gentle squeeze, eliciting another whimper as their mouths met again.

Cat’s hands clawed at her suit as she tore their mouths apart.  Cat’s hips continued to rock subtly as green eyes met blue.  “Kara.” Cat swallowed.  “I think this ‘star effect’ of yours might work both ways.”

Kara’s thoughts were clouded but she drew all of her focus to Cat’s face and waited for Cat to speak again.  

“I’ve never felt so hot.  Like I might melt and catch fire at the same time.”  She leaned forward and drug her teeth up Kara’s leonine neck.  “Before you came here tonight, I couldn’t take my mind off of you and…” she tore open her robe and it fluttered to the floor.  

Kara stopped what she was doing.  “We can’t do this if you aren’t in your right mind.  It isn’t fair to you if your desire is somehow connected to Rao and Kara.”  She took a deep breath and met Cat’s hooded eyes.  “It isn’t too late to stop.”  Kara’s hand drifted to her boot and pulled out her cell phone.  “I can call Alex.  We’ll get you in for some testing right away.  Since you’re human, she can probably treat the hormone and chemical imbalances and-”

Cat grabbed the cell phone and tossed it over her shoulder  “Stop.”  Cat forced Kara to look at her.  Eyes afire, she breathed against Kara’s lips, “I just needed you to know that if you don’t make me come -  _ now _ \- I feel like it might just happen without you.”  

The memory of Kara’s orgasm at Cat’s gentle kisses earlier flooded them both and Kara would be damned if Cat found her pleasure before Kara could even get hands on her skin.

One of Cat’s hands left it’s home anchored to Kara’s shoulder and slid down her arm to where it was buried in Cat’s riotous curls.  She grasped her by the wrist and slowly, slowly drew Kara’s hand down her neck, over the curve of her shoulder, across her sensitive collarbone, where Kara left a reverent kiss through the soft t-shirt and to a pliant, ready breast.  Kara could feel the nipple harden beneath her fingertips and she watched, fascinated as the other followed suit.  Without thinking, she tore the t-shirt from Cat’s slender frame and took one nipple into her mouth, enjoying the pull of her hair as Cat anchored herself.  Cat’s hand was once again at her wrist, stopping the motion of her thumb across a sensitive nipple.

For a moment, Cat studied the way the arm of the suit covered Kara’s hand, looping around her thumb.  “Do you know I’ve always thought about what it would feel like to have you fuck me in this suit?”  Kara moaned low and deep in her chest and Cat grinned.  She drew the hand further down past her breast, across her stomach, letting Kara’s fingers linger there a moment, exploring the soft skin and flat plane before pushing those curious fingers down and beneath the waistband of her pants.

Kara’s fingers met slick, bare heat and her eyes snapped to Cat’s.  A tiny rocket of pleasure shot through Kara as she wiggled one finger against Cat’s wet clit and Cat’s eyelids fluttered in the fight to stay open.  “Fuck, Kara.” fell reverently from her lips.

Kara couldn’t suppress her smile as she slid one finger, then two into Cat, thrusting her hand in exact counterpoint to the roll of Cat’s hips against her own.

The orgasm came hard and fast.  Cat began rocking harder against Kara’s hand and Kara thrust faster and deeper, adding a third finger and rolling Cat’s clit beneath her thumb.  By the time Cat had buried her face in Kara’s neck, she was screaming and Kara was watching with rapture as Cat went to pieces around her.  Kara slowed and nearly stopped before Cat held on tighter.  “Don’t stop.  Again.  Please,” she begged; so Kara used a single finger and made tiny, maddening circles around Cat’s swollen clit.  

“You’re radiant, Cat.  Like the sun.”  And Cat came again, quieter this time in whimpers and sighs against Kara’s neck as she held on and caught her breath.

Kara withdrew her hand and let it curl around Cat’s cotton covered ass, squeezing affectionately as her other hand brushed at Cat’s disheveled hair, as an excuse to feel it between her fingers.  

“Wow,”  It wasn’t eloquent or profound, but it made Cat laugh and the sound send pleasant vibrations through Kara’s heart.  The warmth that filled her at the sensation didn’t have the same edge as the heat that had been consuming her of late.

“So…” Cat grinned mischievously.  “You’re in heat?”

Kara rolled her eyes and lifted Cat just enough to roll her beneath her on the bed.  “You and my sister.  I swear you’re kindred spirits.  I’m not in heat.”  She lowered her head and laid gentle, teasing kisses against the soft skin of Cat’s flat stomach.  Cat’s hands tangled themselves in her hair and she sighed quietly.  “I’m having a deeply religious experience.”

“Then by all means…” Cat gasped mid-sentence.  “Please continue,” she breathed, fists clenching in Kara’s hair.

Kara drew Cat’s pants down her legs and tossed them aside.  Cat arched against Kara’s mouth over and over as Kara brought her to another slow, burning climax using her lips and tongue and the gentle hum of her voice as she spoke words of love in Kryptonian against Cat’s center.

As Kara crawled up Cat’s body, brushing her hand up thighs and stomach and pausing against her breasts, Cat tasted herself on Kara’s tongue and pulled at the tight corners of the blue spandex.  

“How the hell do you get this thing off?”  Cat grumped.

Kara’s eyes twinkled.  “That would be telling.”  In an instant, Kara was gone and back, this time naked and back in position, a strong thigh tucked between Cat’s legs.

“Well… that’s certainly… efficient.”

Kara answered with a passionate kiss.  Her skin heated beneath Cat’s fingers as she slid her hands under strong, steady arms and clawed gently at Kara’s firm back muscles as they rippled under her fingertips.

Kara was thrusting slowly, maddeningly where she lay in the cradle of Cat’s hips.  She whimpered quietly into Cat’s soft neck, punctuating her breaths with sharp scrapes of her teeth and leaving tiny marks.  Cat’s body surged up to meet Kara’s until they were both on the edge again.

“I’m hot, Cat… it burns,” Kara whispered, meeting soft lips again.  “I need you.”

Cat grinned and dipped two fingers into Kara’s dripping folds, encouraging the rhythmic thrusting with her other hand planted on the small of her back.

“You have me.  But hold on, Supergirl.  I intend to enjoy watching you come this time.  And no surprises.  You’ll wait until I give you permission, understand?”

Kara’s skin and chest heated even more and she nodded.  She would have given Cat the moon itself, as long as it meant those slender fingers would continue their motion inside of her.

“Sit up,” Cat demanded.

Kara obeyed, sitting up and riding Cat’s fingers as her head dropped back and her eyes squeezed shut.

“Eyes on me.  I want to watch you.”  

Wide, desperate blue eyes opened and Cat bit her lip at the sight.

“Please,” Kara mouthed, but no sound escaped and her jaw dropped open as she sucked in breath and Cat curled her fingers inside.

“Good, my pretty Star.”

The memory of those words from a near-forgotten dream hit Kara like a firework and she knew there would be no holding back, with our without Cat’s permission.

Cat recognized the impending climax and took her control back.  “Come, Kara.”

Kara screamed and shook as she came falling forward on her hands to tear at the sheets on either side of Cat’s head.

Kara pressed her forehead against Cat’s, brushing her top lip with her bottom one.

Cat continued to thrust until her wrist ached, coaxing Kara through two more powerful orgasms before Kara finally collapsed at Cat’s side.  She drew the petite woman to her and kissed the top of her head as Cat chuckled into her neck.

“You magnificent creature,” Cat praised and Kara could only smile quietly.

 

++++++++++++

 

After several minutes, Cat regained enough of her senses to realize that Kara’s breath was coming in short, shallow gasps and her skin was red, tight and hot to the touch.  Her eyes were wide but glazed over as though she was looking at Cat, but not really seeing her.

“Kara?”

No answer.

“Kara, are you alright?”

Kara’s breath sped up and became even shallower.

“Breathe, sweetheart.”

Her skin was getting hotter and she’d broken out in a sweat all over.  Her eyes closed slowly as she continued to struggle for breath, hands gripping at the sheets and head tossing back and forth.  “Hurts.  Burns.”  She sobbed.

Cat’s hands ran helplessly over Kara’s face and arms.  The girl began to shiver all over and Cat began to panic.  “Kara!”

Between quick choking breaths, a litany of jibberish began to pour from Kara’s dry, trembling lips.  Cat could only surmise that it was Kara’s home language and while her eyes were still open, they remained cloudy and unseeing.

“Hold on.  I’m going to get you some help.”  Cat scrambled from the bed and onto the floor, where she remembered the thud of Kara’s phone landing when she tossed it earlier.  She tossed aside her robe, shirt and finally cotton pants, grabbing the phone from the carpet and thanking Kara’s infernal deities that the homescreen was still open and ready from being so abruptly interrupted.  She found Kara’s recent contacts and pressed the first one.  Alex.  Kara’s sister.  If anyone could help…  She pressed the contact and the speakerphone button and climbed back on the bed, where Kara’s breath had slowed but she had gone limp and clammy.  Still hot to the touch, flushed and mumbling.

Alex Danvers tinny voice came through the speaker.  “Hey, what’s up?”

“Miss Danvers?”

“Yes?” came the confused response.

“This is Cat Grant.  Something’s wrong with Kara.  I think she needs help.”  Cat’s voice wobbled involuntarily.  “I think she needs you.”

“I’m on my way.”  Alex answered.

“Wait, don’t you need my-” she heard the click on the other end of the line.  “-address?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex helps Kara with her "condition" and Kara finds ways to help herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been the MOST FUN.
> 
> Thanks so much for all your kind words and comments.
> 
> Just an epilogue after this.
> 
> Many thanks to the sin bin for the hours of fun.

 

Kara slept peacefully behind a thick pane of tempered glass surrounding her bed.  Cat pressed her hand to the glass, wishing for all the world she could brush back the lock of hair falling across Kara’s eye.  She fought back tears as she spoke to the sleeping woman.  “I’m so sorry, darling.  I should have listened to you.  I should have let you go, let you keep yourself safe, away from me.  You knew I was dangerous to you and I pushed.  I always push… so hard.”  A solitary tear escaped.  “I just wanted you so much, Kara.  Even before all of this.  Even before…” She sighed heavily.  “I saw my chance, even if it wasn’t real, and I took it.  I’ve been such an idiot.”

“It’s always been you, you know.”  The voice came from the doorway of the med bay and Cat’s steely eyes met Alex’s.  She was leaning on the doorway, watching Cat stroke the glass surrounding her sister.  

“Didn’t anyone in your little backwater beach town teach you it’s rude to eavesdrop?”

“Yeah, but I was never great at the whole listen and obey thing.”

Cat rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Kara.

Alex made her way tentatively into the room, crossing to the other side of the bed.  “Before any of this happened.  I think before she even knew.  It’s always been you for her.”  Cat looked back down at Kara.  “You’re her hero… but you’ve become so much more.  I can’t say I’m surprised, when it came time for her to choose someone, she’d pick you.”

“A ringing endorsement,” Cat murmured sardonically.

“It is, actually.  I threatened her last boyfriend with exile to outer space.”

Cat gave her a soft half-smile and a silent truce was reached.  “What’s wrong with her?”

Alex sighed and went, in an instant, from Kara’s family to Kara’s doctor.  “Our sun gives her her superpowers, and right now, it’s killing her.”  Alex looked at Cat gravely.  “Think of it as an auto-immune disorder.  This ‘ _ star time _ ’ on Krypton happened every ten years and was presumably no big deal.  Elevated sex drive and hormone levels, higher brain activity, but nothing that caused any sort of physiological disorder.”  Alex made her way to the end of the bed to flip through Kara’s chart.  “Rao is a red dwarf star and Kara’s cells are calibrated to absorb it’s duller, cooler energy.  Our younger, yellow sun burns brighter and hotter and not only gives Kara her powers, but also ramps up her metabolism and, as we’re now discovering, all of her other organ functions, including hormone production.”

“Okay,” Cat hedged.  “A point, soon, hopefully, before she melts away of fever?”

Alex narrowed her eyes.  “I’m sorry, do you see another alien biologist who can take over?”

Cat waved her hand vaguely, asking Alex to continue.  “We have the fever controlled for the moment.”  She paused.  “Long story short, her hormones have gone haywire, her immune system is responding as though it’s a foreign defect and is producing antibodies.  When antibodies are produced… high fever.”  She gauged Cat’s reaction.  Finding her interested and quiet, she concluded.  “Couple that with the natural rise in body temperature that comes with… arousal and… adrenaline, and you’re looking at a very unstable Kryptonian.”  The sister seeped through the scientist veneer and Alex’s breath caught in her throat.  She replaced the chart and made her way towards the door.  “This just got really awkward, so I’m gonna go have a drink in my office.  I’ll check her vitals again in an hour.  If the treatment’s working, we’ll start seeing a drop in fever by then.”

Cat nodded and watched her go.  She stopped her at the door.  “Alex.”  Alex turned.  “Thanks for taking such good care of her.”

Alex nodded.  “I’m really glad she has you.”  She turned away again but spun back around almost immediately.  “Do you drink scotch?”

Cat breathed a sigh of relief.  “I thought you’d never ask.”

 

+++++++++++

 

Kara had spent three days in a glass bed.  Surprisingly, a mixture of hormone suppressants and herbal immune boosters actually worked and Kara awoke on the third day, to Cat Grant’s smiling face, shining like the sun.

The hiss of hydraulics filled the room as her glass cage lifted and slid down, releasing Kara into Cat’s waiting arms.

Kara buried her nose in Cat’s neck and breathed in her scent.  Her arms wound around a slim waist and she tempered her strength.  “Hi,” she sighed in relief.

“Hi yourself, Sleeping Beauty.”  Cat pulled away and smoothed down Kara’s mussed hair.  “How do you feel?”

“Better, now that I have you in my arms.”  Kara dipped her head to bestow a gentle kiss on Cat’s neck.

Cat smacked her gently on her iron bicep.  “Down girl.  Shower first - alone,” she clarified at Kara’s cheerful leer.  “Then your sister has some instructions for you.”  She pecked Kara on pouty lips and gave her a pat on the ass.  “Shower.  Put on some of those government issue black poly blend horrors and I’ll take you home.”

“Yes, ma’am.”  She saluted and left the room.

Kara took a cool shower, the heat still present if not as overwhelming and met Alex in the barracks as she pulled on a pair of Alex’s jeans and a black polo.

“You’re nocturnal for the next three weeks, Kara, until this condition has passed and you’ll have to stay inside with the curtains drawn during the day.  I’d keep you here, but something tells me I couldn’t even if I tried.”

Kara crossed her arms and nodded.  

“Stay on the supplements… no arguments.” Alex caught her eyes with a raised eyebrow.  Kara hated medicine.  On the rare occasions she had needed it, she never remembered to take them regularly.  “I’ve got Cat on med patrol, so you don’t have a choice.  There’s no way to completely counteract the sun’s effects so you’ll probably run a low-grade fever until this has passed.”

Kara nodded again.

“And, Kara…” Their eyes met again.  “Do your morning rituals,” she said seriously.  “We know this is as much metaphysical as it is physiological.”  Alex put a hand on Kara’s cheek.  “Maybe it’s time to get back in touch with Rao.”

Kara nodded for a third time.  Her mouth twisted into a scowl and tears filled her eyes.

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“Why can’t anything ever be easy?” Kara choked back her tears.  She turned to Alex.  “Huh?  I can’t grow up without my planet getting destroyed.  I can’t travel through space without getting lost for two dozen years only to land on a planet that gives me superpowers.  I can’t have a normal job or a normal family or a normal sex life.”  She laughed mirthlessly.  “I can’t fall in love without medical intervention.”

Alex blew a breath through her lips.  “I’m going to ignore that normal family comment.”  She grinned and was pleased when Kara gave her a half smile back.  “I get it, sis.  But this is temporary, and,” she looked past Kara to see Cat standing in the doorway, “something tells me it just might be worth it in the end.”

Kara turned and a comforting warmth spread through her at the sight of Cat.  Her heart gave an excited ‘thump’ in her chest and she allowed herself a moment to bask in her beauty.  The tiny thread connecting her to Rao and her parents and her lost people was fortified by a fraction in that moment and Kara allowed that connection to strengthen her.  

_“I Sh_ _eh_ _d Ehrosh,”_ she whispered, crossing to Cat and cupping her cheek.  “ _I Ehl_ _Zrh_ _y_ _min.”_ It was a powerful acceptance of that which Kara was afraid to accept fully.  She drew Cat into a soft, deep kiss and welcomed the heat that brought them together, like colliding stars.

When they separated, Cat hid her grin.  “Keep kissing me like that and I’ll forgive you the faux pas of speaking an unknown language around those who don’t understand it.”

Kara laughed.  “I’ll teach you.”  She turned her head to Alex, who had busied herself with putting away vials and petri dishes and reports and was trying desperately to blend into the background.  “Alex, I think I need to talk to my mother.”

 

++++++++++++++++

 

“Hi Mom.”

“Hello Kara.”

Cat stood at Kara’s side squeezing her hand.  Kara took a deep breath and began.

“Alura Zor-El, high scion of the house In-Ze and Lady of the House of El, I would like you to meet Catherine Jane Grant, President and CEO of CatCo Worldwide Media.”

“I am pleased to meet you Lady Grant.”  The hologram’s words were lifeless, but important to Kara.  Alura turned to her daughter.  “You have chosen well, Dear One.”

Kara blushed prettily.  “We have a question, Mother.”

“Proceed.”

“The  _ Ehl :Dehdh _ , does it ever affect… the partner?”

“Only if the partner is also one of Rao’s chosen.  I see no reason to believe your human should be affected by  _ Ehl :Dehdh _ , Kara.  Whatever effects she may be experiencing are entirely of earth.”

Kara smiled and squeezed Cat’s hand.  “Thanks Mom.”

“Goodbye Kara, Lady Grant.”

The hologram blipped away and another tear slipped down Kara’s cheek.  Cat spoke first.  “Well, I guess it’s just you that makes me feel this way,” she said, backing Kara against the iron wall with a hand to her sternum.  A strong hand snaked around her neck, drawing their mouths together in a heated kiss.

“Take me home, Cat.”  Kara breathed, pressing their foreheads together.

 

++++++++++++++++

 

They had no sooner walked into Kara’s apartment than a cry from across town met Kara’s ears.

“Cat.”

“Go.”

Kara was out the window before Cat could finish shutting the door.

 

+++++++++++++++++

 

St. Catherine’s Cathedral was a sprawling, Byzantine architectural wonder nestled in the heart of National City.  It had always reminded her of the temple in Argo City.  Maybe that’s why she’d spent so many years avoiding it.  She couldn’t do so now as someone was pleading for his life inside.

“Please, my son, you don’t want to do this.  Whatever you’ve done, God will forgive you.  You need only ask.”

“Quiet, old man.  Start with the collection box, then we can work on all the god trinkets and toys laying around this place.”

Kara heard the distinctive ‘click’ of a gun being cocked and a burst of superspeed had her inside the cavernous space.  A glance to the altar told her everything she needed to know.  A short man in worn clothing leveled a gun at a tall, thin priest holding up his hands and speaking in a soothing voice.

“It’s in the sacristy, locked away.  There’s no place for a firearm in God’s house.  Put the gun down and I’ll give you whatever you want.”

“Not a chance.  Take me to the goods and the gun comes with us.”

Kara didn’t hesitate.  She landed between the robber and the priest, startling the man so much he pulled the trigger.  The bullet bounced from Kara’s chest a split second before she wrapped her fist around the barrel and squeezed it to a mangled bit of metal.  She kicked his feet from under him, holding him down with a boot to his chest.

She stayed with the priest as the police were called, the man hauled off to jail and their statements taken.  Her fever had returned, but it was important to Kara to ensure this man with the kind eyes and knowing gaze was safe and calm before she flew off.  She felt hot and full of too much energy, as though she was vibrating.

When the final CSI disappeared out the echoing wooden doors, Kara turned to excuse herself and make her way back home, into Cat’s waiting arms.

“You seem troubled, my child.”

“I’m fine.”  She gave him a sincere smile and turned with a flourish of her cape.

“I can see the turmoil in you.  It can often help to unburden yourself.”

Kara turned and met his deep, wise eyes.  “I guess you can call it a… crisis of faith.”

The priest nodded.  “Am I correct in assuming your deities are different from ours.”

Kara chuckled.  “An understatement, Father.  Mine has laid a burden upon me that I am unsure I wish to bear.  And it is affecting a human that I care for very much.  It isn’t fair of Rao to ask this of me, but I cannot set it down.  I carry the faith of a lost world on my shoulders.”

The priest nodded knowingly.  “I am familiar with ‘The Calling’ my child.  It is especially painful for the chosen of any given faith.  You feel as though your path is laid before you with no deviation, no room to carve out your own road.”

Kara nodded and brushed a bead of sweat from her forehead.

“But remember this, child of the stars, the path before you is not a prison, but somewhere to return when you venture from it and need to find your way again.”

Tears sprang to Kara’s eyes as she thought of Cat, waiting for her return, her path, journey, her home.  She took a deep breath.  “Thank you, Father.  May I see you home?”

The priest shook his head.  “No, thank you, Supergirl.  My rectory is just across the courtyard, behind the church.  And thank you for the rescue tonight.  St. Catherine’s and I are most grateful.”

“Good night,” Kara said quietly and flew out the window.

 

+++++++++++++++

 

Kara came home to find Cat looking through her telescope.  She landed on the fire escape one window over and crawled in.  She wrapped her arms around Cat from behind whispering in her ear.  “You don’t need to be at home?” she asked, before she got too carried away.

“Carter’s at Space Camp.” Cat retorted.

Kara laughed and returned her attention to the telescope.  She took a peek before moving her head aside and allowing Cat to look again as she placed a happy kiss on the blonde curls at Cat’s temple.

“It’s trained directly on Rao, almost always, which means right now, you can see Kara too.”  

Cat leaned back into her.  “You’re hot again.”

“Mmm.”  Kara had begun raining kisses down the side of Cat’s neck and running firm hands up her sides, over her ribs so that her thumbs could brush the underside of Cat’s breasts.  “Very,” she breathed.

Cat attempted to move away to get Kara’s meds.  The fever was rising, but Kara needed the heat, wanted it.  “Stay, please _. _  I want you to watch Rao and Kara while I make love to you.  The fever is part of this, Cat.  I want to feel it.”  Her breaths were coming short and shallow again.  “I want to feel everything.”

Cat reached behind her and bunched Kara’s little red skirt up around her waist, desperate to get fingers inside miles of spandex.  “Okay Supergirl, I’m over the suit.  Get it off.”

“Patience, _Ehl_ _Zrh_ _y_ _min._ ” The Kryptonian endearment had a powerful effect on Cat and her head fell back against Kara’s shoulder as her hands guided Kara’s back up to fully cup her breasts.

One of Kara’s hands returned to gently pull Cat’s chin back down so she could once again look into the eyepiece of the telescope.  “Watch the stars, Cat.  Don’t look away.”

Kara sank to her knees, drawing Cat’s soft cotton pants and lace panties as she went.  She shoved the garments to the side and soft, caring hands stroked up each of Cat’s calves, tickling the backs of Cat’s knees, causing her breath to jump, and squeezing the globes of Cat’s ass, which clenched pleasantly as Kara blew cool breath across her center.

Cat cried out and squeezed her eyes shut.  “Watch Rao, Cat.  Watch Kara.  They’re watching over you.”  Kara flicked her tongue against Cat’s wet folds, finding her clit and teasing it with another breath of cool air.  Cat’s hips were rolling sensuously and her breath came in small whimpers.  Kara continued to bring Cat to the brink of climax, over and over, before pulling back to tease, glance up and smile as Cat fought to keep her eyes on the heavens.  

“I- I need.  Kara, I need you to-  Please, Kara!”

Kara’s skin was hot and pink, but she drove her tongue deep into Cat’s folds, keeping her breath cool, sucking on Cat’s clit to the rhythm of her rolling hips and the sound of her cries.  When Cat came, the telescope was forgotten and pointed straight to the ceiling, nearly toppling over as Cat bucked against Kara’s mouth and Kara held her steady and lowered her to the wooden floor, coaxing her through the aftershocks before joining their lips.

Cat stroked Kara’s hair and kissed her smile.  “You’ve got to take your medicine, darling.  You’re burning up.”

Kara shook her head.  “Soon. The heat brings me closer to Rao.  I’ll be fine.”  She kissed Cat’s cheeks, forehead, neck and the top of her shoulder.  “I promise.”  Their lips met again in a heated kiss.  “I need you, Cat.  My sun.  I need your light, your heat.”

“Then come up here.”  Cat winked mischievously and with a show of strength Kara didn’t know she possessed, drug Kara bodily up so her thighs nestled on either side of Cat’s blonde curls.  With one sweep of her tongue, Kara buried one hand in Cat’s hair and pitched forward so the other clawed at the floor, leaving marks in the soft wood.  Kara’s hips rocked against Cat’s soft mouth.  She could feel the fire rise in her again and sweat ran between her breasts.

“Oh Rao. Cat!”  Kara came hard, careful not to collapse on top of Cat, but instead to the side, pressing her back against the cool floor and throwing an arm across her eyes.  Her other arm searched blindly for the other woman, who came to her, dropping her blonde head on a sweaty shoulder.  Cat drew nonsense patterns across Kara’s sweaty abs as Kara wrote ‘I Love You’ in Kryptonian glyphs on Cat’s narrow shoulder.  

Kara’s body heat continued to rise.  

“Kara.” Cat lifted her head.  “You’re burning up again.  No more arguments.  Medicine.  Now.”  She scrambled to her feet and fetched a handful of capsules and a bottle of icy water, sitting back on the floor to draw Kara to a sitting position.

With pills and water dispatched, Kara looked dreamily at Cat, cupping her chin.  “Go to bed, love.  I need to pray, then I’ll take a cool shower and join you.”

Cat nodded and disappeared.

 

+++++++++++

 

The prayers were like a balm to Kara’s soul and a breath of cool air on her troubled mind.  It had been so many years since she’d spoken to Rao, she could feel his arms open to her again.  Suddenly the path before sprouted forks and detours and adventurous little asides.  Kara basked in Rao’s cool light, felt warm tears coat her cheeks and filled her heart with the woman in the other room.  ‘ _ Star Time _ ’ was finite, but this love felt infinite.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All that comes next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end friends. Just a short little epilogue.
> 
> Thank you all for your lovely comments and kind words.
> 
> And very special thanks to the Sin Bin for this astonishingly fun challenge.

 

Three Weeks Later

 

Cat awoke and stretched, allowing the cool sheets to ghost deliciously against her bare skin.  At her age, one would think almost a month of near constant sex would be ill-advised, but Cat had never felt younger, healthier or happier.  She knew Kara would not be next to her.  She never was.  She expected to find Kara kneeling on the floor of the darkened living room, blackout curtains drawn, a series of chants filling the room in Kara’s enchanting voice.

The sight she was met with sent a shockwave of overwhelming love through her.  The curtains were thrown wide open and acres of yellow sunlight illuminated the room.  Cat could hear the crash of waves from the private beach and in the center of the picture window stood Kara Zor-El and Carter Grant, taking turns looking through the telescope at the daytime sky.

Cat left them for a few minutes, pouring herself a cup of coffee and gathering Kara’s morning dose.  She surprised Kara from behind with one arm snaking around her waist and the other dropping pills into her hand.

Kara took the pills without argument.  “I’m showing Carter what kinds of things he can see in daylight with his new telescope.”

Cat smiled and ran her fingers through Carter’s brown curls.  “Carter, would you go start on some pancake batter?  I bet you and Kara are hungry.”

“Yeah we are!” Kara exclaimed, giving Carter a fist bump and a pat on his shoulder as he went.

When he was out of earshot, Cat turned to her.  “This is a welcome change.”

“My fever broke in the night.  I sweated through my clothes, took a cool shower and came out here so I didn’t wake you.”  She gestured to the telescope.  “Rao and Kara have separated.”  Kara looked at the floor, unsure if the news would be good or bad.  “M-my ‘ _star time_ ’ is over.”  She cleared her throat.  “Back to business as usual.”

“Business as usual?”  Cat recognized Kara’s insecurity.  “Does business as usual still include you sharing my bed?  Waking up in your arms?  Clandestine sex after dark in your secluded little office? Or on my balcony? The beach? The hallway outside your apartment? Midnights in that little park with the-”

“Okay, okay.  Point taken.”  Kara laughed and drew Cat close.  “Can it be assumed you’re going to let me stick around?  At least for awhile?”

“How’s forever sound?”  Cat placed a sinful little kiss behind Kara’s ear.

“Divine…” Kara drew Cat’s lips to hers with a hand to her cheek.  “Provided you’re up for this madness again in ten years.”  She kissed her soundly before waiting for an answer.

Cat shrugged.  “You’ll be pushing forty, darling.  Are you sure you’ll be able to keep up?”

“Better stay in practice.”  Kara retorted before capturing Cat’s lips again.

 

+++++++++++++++

 

Ten Years Later

 

Kara let herself into the penthouse with a sigh and an ache in her heart.  “Carter?” she called quietly.  She wasn’t sure why she was being so quiet.  Cat wasn’t due back for another few days.  It was only Carter, packing his things and spending a final few days in his childhood home.

Maybe it was because she felt as though she no longer belonged here.  Maybe she was afraid that if she spoke too loud, the walls themselves would report back to Cat that she’d been there.  

Thoughts of Cat caused a flush of heat she hadn’t felt in ten years.  The dreams had started two days ago.  Her _Ehl :Dehdh_ had begun again.  A glance through the telescope at Alex’s last night had confirmed it.  Only this time, she wouldn’t have Cat to help her through it.

Carter emerged from his room, tall and handsome, but with that telltale shyness just dulling the edges of his adult confidence.  Kara was so proud of him.  Had it only been two months ago she had cried at his graduation, squeezing Alex’s hand so tightly that her sister had needed to pry her fingers gently away and hold onto her elbow instead?  Kara had smiled through rivers of tears as she had glanced to the end of the row at Cat, always so poised and stoic.  Kara’s heart broke as her estranged wife wiped a single tear from her eyes and looked to the ceiling, blinking back the rest as ‘Carter Alan Theodore Grant’ rang across the assembly hall.  Kara had never wanted to hold her so badly.  But that privilege had been revoked.  Cat had withdrawn her love, her presence in her life, everything they had built.

Carter’s voice drew her from her thoughts and her closed mouthed, crinkle eyed smile returned.

“Hi Kara.”  Carter’s smile was genuine and he scratched the back of his head, just as he used to at seventeen, when he’d peek into Kara’s office during his summer internship, apologizing for interrupting.  Kara’s heart burst with love.

And now he was leaving.  Going thousands of miles away to graduate school at Oxford.  “Hi Kiddo.  All packed?”

Carter nodded.  “Just about.  But I’m not leaving until next week.”

“I know.”  Kara smiled at him.  “I have to go away for a little while.  Not long,” she added quickly at his stricken look, “but right away.  I’m so sorry, Carter.  I won’t be here to see you off.  So, I came to say my goodbyes now.”  She crossed the room and adjusted his skinny tie and the collar on his oxford shirt.  “Get one last look at your handsome face.”  She patted his stubbled cheek.  “You need a shave.”

He shrugged.  “Jake likes it.”  He scratched his head again.  “I’m… going over there now… to talk about what happens next.”

Kara squeezed his shoulder.  “You’ll figure it out.  It’s a long way, but it isn’t forever.”  She met his eyes.  “If you love each other, you’ll work together to get through it.”

Carter’s eyes turned steely.  “Like you and mom are working it out?”

Kara stepped back, out of his space.  “I deserved that.”  She felt a drop of sweat trickle down the back of her neck.

“Look, if this trip or whatever is because mom kicked you out, she’s really sorry, Kara.  She’s just too stubborn to say so.”

“I do know that, buddy.  I’m sorry too.  But sometimes being sorry isn’t enough.”

“She misses you.”

“I miss her too.”

“Kara-”  

Just then the front door opened and Cat strode in, dropping her handbag and keys on a small table and wheeling her suitcase behind her.  “Carter!  I’m home!”  She stopped short at the sight of Kara and her son, one wearing a familiar pleading expression, the other downright panic-stricken at her appearance.

“Cat,” Kara choked out, “you weren’t due back until tomorrow.”

Cat’s expression had gone stony and the tiny motion of her cheek as she bit the inside of her lip was the only evidence of the turmoil under the surface.  “I caught an early flight.  How are you, Kara?”

Kara took a deep breath as her body alighted in heat.  Warmth sped to her extremities and she felt the flush in her cheeks and became instantly dizzy.  This wasn’t supposed to happen.  She’d only wanted to say goodbye to Carter before taking her well-earned vacation and escaping to the fortress of solitude to wait out her _Ehl :Dehdh_ alone.  But one glance at Cat, one beat of her strong heart in her ears, an instant in her intoxicating presence shattered any walls she had built around herself.  She shrugged in an attempt at nonchalance.  “Alex’s sofa sucks.”  Kara fought the urge to fly immediately out the window.  “Carter, I have to go.”  She stood on tiptoes to buss him affectionately on his cheek, wiping away the light lipstick stain.  “I love you.  Travel safe.  Facetime me when you can, okay?  And I’ll come visit just as soon as I can get away.”

“No!” Carter stopped her.  “Stay, Kara please.  I have to go anyway.  Jake’s waiting.  Please… just… talk to each other.”  He looked at his mother with brown, watery eyes.  “For me?”

Kara took a deep breath, licked her lips and turned her focus on her fidgeting hands.  She battled down nausea and the fever that she could already feel coming on.  She gave a nearly imperceptible nod and Carter enveloped her in a hug.  “I love you too.”  He moved towards the door.  “Welcome home, Mom.”  He hugged her too.  “I’ll be home soon.” And he was gone.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Kara let her guard down; let all of her panic, stress, and longing for Cat flood her system and she backed herself into the corner of the room.  “Cat, I really do need to go.”  Tears stung her eyes and a lump formed in her throat.

Cat stepped towards her and Kara held up a hand, shaking her head violently.  “Please, don’t come any closer… I can’t… I can’t...”  The sobs came unbidden and Kara slid down the wall, hugging her knees.

Realization hit Cat like a wrecking ball.  “Oh, God.  It’s started again, hasn’t it?”  She took another step and Kara tucked herself further into the corner.  “For heaven’s sake, Kara.  You are a grown woman, stop huddling in the corner like a frightened child.”  But when Kara looked up at her with feverish, wild eyes, Cat’s heart melted and she attempted to approach again.

“Cat, I swear to Rao, if you take one step closer, I will burn a hole in your fucking ceiling.”  Her face was dark and dangerous.  Kara held in her anger most of the time, but she was volatile when pushed, and oh how Cat had pushed her lately.

Cat stepped back and took a seat at one of the high stools at the breakfast bar separating the living room from the kitchen.  “Okay, I’m as far away as I can get, but I am going to talk to you and you are going to let me apologize.”

Kara sniffed.  “You have nothing to apologize for.  I’m sorry if you thought my relationship to Lucy was anything but friendly.  We work very closely together.  I turned to her when you…”

“Went a little crazy?” Cat finished for her.

Kara let a tiny smile shine through.  “I was going to say ‘were dealing with your life changes,’” Kara placated.  “It’s possible I got a bit closer to her than was entirely appropriate, but I swear upon Kara herself, Cat, nothing ever happened.  You know it can’t.  I have spent ten years telling you that you are the only person in infinite universes that I could ever want.”

“Against your will,” Cat mumbled.

“No!”  Kara looked up and began to stand.  She caught herself before flying across the room to take Cat in her arms, but the words she said penetrated the thick tension between them.  “No.   _Because_ of my will, Cat.  Those stars didn’t choose you, Cat.  My _heart_ did.   _I_ did.  And you chose me too.  Tell me I’m wrong.”

“No, darling.  You aren’t wrong.  You know how much I love you.”  Cat played with the chipping paint on the back of her chair, recent evidence of her anger the night she threw a full glass of scotch at her head and threw her out of her life.  “Between Carter announcing that he’s leaving the country and my… impending retirement,” she forced the words out through clenched teeth.  “I was afraid of too much changing too fast and your friendship with Lucy got caught up in the tornado of it all.”

She gripped the back of the chair, chipped paint forgotten.  The urge to launch herself at Kara and breathe a thousand apologies into her mouth was so strong, she dug her nails into the wood to keep herself from following through.  “I’m sorry, my love.  I’m truly, deeply sorry.  I was... _wrong_.”

To hear Cat Grant say she was wrong about anything was so foreign to Kara’s ears that she stood in stunned silence for nearly a full minute.

“Say something.”

“I accept.”  Kara blurted immediately.  She cleared her throat, met Cat’s eyes and said it again.  “I love you, and I accept your apology, _I Sh_ _eh_ _d Ehrosh_.”  Speaking Kryptonian in Cat’s presence sent another wave of heat through Kara and she leaned against the wall and tried to breathe as sweat broke across her brow.

“Are you going to let me come over there and help you with your little problem, _I shovuh_?  Or will you continue to be a martyr to your infernal stars?”

Kara groaned at the Kryptonian words on Cat’s lips.  “I- I was going to spend the month at the fortress… alone… in the cold.”  She swallowed thickly.  “God, the cold sounds nice right now.  I think I need to go.  I’m going to regret saying that, but I do.”  She licked her dry lips and kept talking to keep the temptation of Cat, leveling heated eyes at her, at bay.  “I have to know that you aren’t just coming back to me because of the _Ehl :Dehdh_ ; that when I come home it’s forever and… and… and Jesus, Cat, you have to stop looking at me like that.”

Cat was done obeying orders to keep her distance.  This was her house, her wife, and her choice and she’d be damned if Kara Danvers was going to tell her she couldn’t have it.  She slid from her chair and sauntered across the living room.

Kara didn’t protest.  She couldn’t.  The heat had taken over and the fight had gone out of her.  The sight of Cat Grant prowling across the room to ravish her into submission was enough for Kara _and_ her stars.

When Cat was within arm’s reach, Kara swept her into a heady kiss, leaning back into the corner.

When they broke apart, Kara studied Cat’s face silently, taking in weeks of separation, pain, sorrow and anger and sweeping it away with a loving touch.

“Still want to fly away, Supergirl?” Cat breathed, brushing their noses together and leveling steely eyes on Kara.  

Kara didn’t trust her voice, so she merely shook her head, swallowing her tears.  She tucked a curl behind Cat’s ear, where it was just beginning to grey around the temples.  She drew a gentle finger around Cat’s eyes, where smile lines had begun to form at the corners, giving away the joy she kept so thoroughly hidden in her public life.  She stroked Cat’s still-perfect lips with her thumb and laid a soft kiss on the corners, where time had turned Cat’s soft dimples into tiny valleys in a barely-aging face.  Botox and a few minor procedures had kept the years at bay, but Kara revelled in every change she had witnessed over their ten years together.

Another heated kiss had Kara pressing Cat against the wall, reaching under her shirt, searching for cool skin against her hot hands.  She lifted Cat with one hand and whimpered as strong thighs encircled her waist.  When her hands finally settled against the skin of Cat’s lower back, they broke apart again, foreheads resting against each other.  “ _:zhao iahzrhim, Cat.”_ Kara stated intensely, hoping Cat remembered the first time Kara ever spoke to her in Kryptonese.  ‘Love Begins’ she had said, in her mother tongue.

Cat shook her head and let a single tear roll down her face.  “No, _i zhor_ ,” she argued softly, “ _:zhao :zhehiodia_ .  Love _lives_.”

Kara held her tight and buried her face in Cat’s soft neck.  “Careful, Cat.  Someone might find out what a romantic you really are.”

“Not if you don’t tell them, dear.”  Cat buried her hand in Kara’s hair and tugged until their eyes met.  “Now, are you going to follow through here or do I need to go take care of myself?”

Kara growled and with a burst of superspeed had Cat on their bed, eating much more than just her words.


End file.
